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Will widening of the Panama Canal affect cruises?
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By Gene Sloan
September 25, 2010
Will the widening project currently underway at the Panama Canal -- scheduled for completion in 2014 -- result in a rash of new and unusual cruise itineraries?
Don't count on it, says the head of the world's largest cruise company.
Even though the industry operates a growing number of "post-Panamax" ships that are too big to fit into the current canal -- and thus limited in their ability to navigate between the Atlantic, Caribbean and the Pacific -- a wider canal only will have a marginal impact on operations, says Carnival Corp. chairman and CEO Micky Arison.
"The only thing it adds is a bit of flexibility to our post-Panamax ships," Arison told Wall Street analysts on Tuesday during a conference call to discuss third quarter earnings. "Obviously, if we have post-Panamax ships that become Panamax, it gives us a little bit greater flexibility, but I wouldn't say it's a huge indicator."
Carnival Corp. is the parent company of more than half a dozen lines, including Carnival, Princess Cruises, Holland America and Cunard Line.
Responding to a question from Horizon Asset Management's David Leibowitz, Arison noted the only Carnival-owned brands that have a too-big-for-the-canal ship positioned on the West Coast (and thus relatively stranded from the Caribbean under current circumstances) are Princess Cruises and Carnival.
With a widening of the canal, "theoretically, they can move back and forth" between the West Coast and the Caribbean more easily, he notes. But it won't be a game-changer for the business.
"I wouldn't consider it a huge factor for us compared to the factor it will be for the cargo industry, which will be quite big," Arison says.
Budget Travel inc Cruise News Index 2010:
Autumn, Summer
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